Main menu

Sebastian Vettel relying on tire strategy to climb through Chinese GP field after qualifying ninth

April 12, 2013

Formula One points leader Sebastian Vettel is hoping that tire strategy works in his favor on Sunday in China. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Formula One series points leader Sebastian Vettel will start the Chinese Grand Prix from ninth place after being one of only two drivers to tackle the third qualifying session Saturday on medium tires.

Vettel is banking on the assumption that he will be able to run a long first stint in the race while most of his F1 rivals will have to stop early to get rid of the fragile soft tire. Vettel aborted his third-session qualifying lap after locking up, but in any case was unlikely to have finished the session much higher than eighth, ahead of Jenson Button, who took the same decision.

“It's a long race tomorrow, it's a tough circuit on tires, we know that,” said Vettel. “We learned a little bit yesterday. We decided to go opposite to the majority, whether that's the right decision we'll know tomorrow.

“We know the tires are not great, and obviously that makes you think, and sometimes come up with a different approach. The majority of cars were out on the soft tire, which is the qualifying tire, so even if we finished the lap we don't have a fair chance to match them.”

Vettel said he didn't think he had damaged the tires when he locked up, and while he doesn't have to start on that set, the likelihood is that he will need it at some stage in the race.

“There seemed to be very little load on the car,” he said. “We need to find out why -- I had quite a long pedal, so something broke. I think the lap was not really competitive anyways, so it didn't matter too much.

“Probably the only other car on mediums was Jenson, and judging by his lap time he wasn't pushing very hard, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. I checked the tire, there was no damage, so it should be fine.”